Gatz is an internationally renowned miniature artist

Inspired by 1/87-scale model figures, Gatz created his first Box Story in 2010. Since then, spurred on by the enthusiastic response to his “stories in a box,” he has enjoyed staging 2-centimeter-tall characters in situations that are beyond their control.

Gatz creates mirror images of masterpieces in humorous contemporary 3D works.

He's always been drawn to objects with a sense of mystery, such as music boxes, cuckoo clocks and the works of artist Joseph Cornell. Admiring Japanese aesthetics, he builds his scenes in sober, uncluttered universes, working with a selection of materials: wood, polystyrene, foam sheets and paper. His works are based on the principle of a collision of scales: he inserts a reproduction of a masterpiece in a smaller format, framed within a box that becomes a true mise en abîme—a theatrical scene. The box functions as a complete scenographic device: a neutral background, lighting suggested by the arrangement of the figurines, and depth constructed across multiple planes.

Gatz conceives his creations solely through the lens of humor—all forms of humor. He delights in repurposing figurines, inventing a tailor-made destiny for them. The humor and poetry of the moments he captures in his boxes are enhanced by the titles that accompany them. These tongue-in-cheek titles are as much wordplay as they are double entendres, transforming contemplation into a visual gag.

Humor arises primarily from the contrast in scale and the shift in register: the miniature characters are placed in the role of spectators or actors facing masterpieces of art history, which creates a burlesque mise en abîme effect; these characters observe, comment on, and sometimes disrupt great art.